Gram Tells Another Tale
by missy52061
Summary: Martha tells a bedtime story to James and Hannah. I had to post something today - the beginning of season 8 of Castle! As always, I don't own Castle, I just wish I did.


Martha Rodgers was cuddling two of her grandchildren; James, age 5 and Hannah, age 2. Richard and Katherine were at a fund raiser tonight, and she was taking care of the children at her apartment. So now the three of them were cuddled up on her most comfortable couch. They had had a lovely time – first a simple dinner of pizza, then some music (she was thrilled with what a beautiful voice young Hannah had – that child has a future on Broadway) and now they were snug in their bedclothes, and she was about to tell them a story.

"So what kind of story do you want tonight, my lovelies?" She used one of her most dramatic voices, because she knew these two loved that.

"A real one!" James replied. "A story with you, Lexie, and Mommy and Daddy!"

"Yeah!" Hannah cried. "Real!"

"Alright, let me think. How about the story of how Mommy and Daddy met? Alexis and I were there, you know!" In fact, that was one of Martha's favorite stories. She would love to share that one. She gathered the two children closer, and closed her eyes to set the scene in her memory. "You guys know that Daddy writes books, right?"

"Like Dr. Seuss!" said James. His little sister nodded her head.

"Well, I guess that's true. So Daddy used to write books about a guy named Derrick Storm. But he got bored, so he wanted to write about someone else, but he couldn't figure out whom. So he would sit around his house, he didn't shave or put on his clothes, and he wouldn't write anything!" Martha smiled as she remembered those days. And then she continued to tell her tale.

"So the last Derrick Storm book was done, and there was a big party. Everyone got dressed up, including me and Alexis. I remember teasing Alexis about doing homework at the party! Daddy was signing autographs, and talking to people and sort of having fun. But he was still worried about what he was going to write next. I teased him about it, and then I left him and Alexis to go meet someone at the party." Martha tried to remember his name, was it Bart? No, Burt! And he did magic…..

James looked at her and grinned a very Rick Castle-like grin. "So then what happened?"

"Well, Alexis told me that Daddy was complaining about how boring the party was. He wanted something new, something different. And then Mommy walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder," Martha told them. "Daddy thought she was another fan looking for an autograph, so he was very surprised when he saw a beautiful woman who wasn't dressed up and she had a police badge in her hand!"

The two little ones laughed. They knew this story because Daddy told it to them, but he never told them the part about sitting around in his pj's. So they liked it when Grams told it.

"And then Mommy said, 'Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD, we need to ask you questions!" James told the next part of the story.

"That's right, she did! Alexis thought it was so funny when Mommy said that," his grandmother said. "And then Mommy took Daddy to the precinct and asked him some questions. He wasn't being very serious, but Mommy let him go home anyway. Mommy liked Daddy's books, but she wasn't sure she liked Daddy. But Daddy liked Mommy right away, and he decided to help her get answers for all of her questions. So he went back to the precinct and he got to know Uncle Javi and Uncle Kevin too. But Daddy realized they arrested the wrong guy and he took some things that didn't belong to him!"

"He bad!" said Hannah with a little grin.

"That's right, sweetheart. But Mommy came to see me, and I told her where he liked to hide: at the library. So she went there and arrested him. He promised he wouldn't do that again, and Mommy let him go home. But he made Mommy think about stuff, and she started to think Daddy was right. They investigated the crime a little more, and found the guy who did it, and Mommy arrested him!"

"That's good, "said James. "I wouldn't want to go to jail if I didn't do the bad stuff!" Martha kissed the crown of his head.

"Exactly, James! That is what makes Mommy, Uncle Kevin and Uncle Javier such good cops. They want to make sure they get everything right. And Daddy used to help them," Martha's voice is full of the pride she felt for her son and daughter-in-law. "So did you like that story, my darlings?" She knew they would say yes because she had told it to them before. She noticed the two of them were getting sleepy, so she settled Hannah on her lap and put her arm around James. They would soon be asleep; she started to sing a lullaby in a low voice. Hannah's eyes closed and soon after, James was asleep. She left them sleeping on the couch, and when Katherine and Richard's evening out was over, they would carry their sleeping children down to the car.

Martha Rodgers had starred in quite a few Broadway shows, been a guest star on television shows, and been in a movie or two or three in her lifetime. But if you asked her right now what her favorite role was, she'd say "grandmother". And if you asked Alexis, James and Hannah Castle who was the best storyteller in the family, they would tell you "Gram is."

 **A/N: I thought it would be fun to have Martha tell the story of the very first Castle episode on the day that season 8 was starting!**


End file.
